The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare Volume 16 Issue 2 June - Special Issue on Social Justice, Article 2 Values, and Social Work Practice June 1989 What's Right with Welfare? The Other Face of AFDC Ronald B. Dear University of Washington Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw Part of the Social Welfare Commons, and the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Dear, Ronald B. (1989) "What's Right with Welfare? The Other Face of AFDC," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 16 : Iss. 2 , Article 2. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol16/iss2/2 This Article is brought to you by the Western Michigan University School of Social Work. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. What's Right with Welfare? The Other Face of AFDC' RONALD B. DEAR University of Washington School of Social Work Eleven million people, mostly mothers and children, depend on Aid to Families with Dependent Children, America's largest child welfare pro- gram. Much is wrong with AFDC welfare, and serious efforts are being made, again, to reform it. So far, no major attempts at reform have been successful. If reform is to succeed, we must understand what needs to be corrected and what does not. What's right with welfare? This study, not an apology or excuse for AFDC, answers that rarely asked question. Part I surveys back- ground. Part II cites myths and criticisms of AFDC and portrays pov- erty as it afflicts children and female-headed households. The focus of the analysis is on the depiction of 12 positive features of AFDC.